Judge to decide whether 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' star will be granted bond
NEW JERSEY (WABC) -- An immigration judge will soon rule on whether a former "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star will be granted bail while he appeals his immigration case.
The judge heard arguments in Pennsylvania Wednesday morning in the case of Joe Giudice.
He served 41 months in prison, then was transferred to ICE custody.
Giudice's attorney said the immigration laws his client and others are subject to are "draconian" and "nothing short of inhumane", and said his client's family has paid its debt to society.
Giudice, the husband of Teresa Giudice, had been serving a prison sentence for mail, wire and bankruptcy fraud.
He moved from Italy to the U.S. as a child and is a legal permanent resident, but he never became a U.S. citizen.
Giudice and wife Teresa pleaded guilty in 2014 to bankruptcy fraud and submitting false loan applications to get $5 million in mortgages and construction loans. Joe Giudice also pleaded guilty to not paying about $200,000 in income taxes.
Teresa Giudice served nearly a year in prison and was freed in December 2015. Under a sentencing agreement that allowed for continuous care of the couple's four young children, Joe Giudice began serving his 41-month sentence in March 2016.
Joe Giudice's federal sentence ran concurrent with an 18-month state sentence for unlawful use of an ID and impersonation, stemming from his 2014 guilty plea in an unrelated case. He was charged with using his brother's identity to obtain a driver's license while his own license was suspended for driving while intoxicated in 2010.
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